Tuesday and Wednesday

Tuesday and Wednesday - Rome



We left the convent to go to a new hotel and WOW the place is nice. We are ending with a big hurray. It is in a different area of town so we will be seeing different things. We went walking and went into another old church,


St Maria deli Angeli


Again the outside is looking like it is crumbling and the inside is incredible. This church's architect was Michelangelo. (So I didn't have good info when I said he died in his 70's. ) He was 85 when he worked on this church. We stayed for mass. There was work of Galileo in this church. Can you just imagine? Two great minds. Joan



We headed by bus to the catacombs. We had a guide that lead us down under. It was good to have a guide as there are no written signs. There were tombs from 1700 years ago still there. But most remains were moved to churches etc. This was one of the oldest in the old section of Rome. Over 40,000 were buried there with respect. 4 levels with tunnels like the mines in the states. A wealthy woman, Pricilla, donated her estate to the church so christians and others could be buried and the sites protected from grave robbers. They wrapped the bodies with cloth and then put lime on them for decomposing. The air was good so they knew about ventilation. Worth seeing. Judy

Our last day here we got up later. The breakfast here was really good. We don't have a lot planned. We headed out to see the Spanish Steps. They are the longest and widest steps in Europe. Next we headed to Trevi Fountain, one of the most stunning fountains in the world with the Baroque architecture.


Joan


Next we walked to the Borghese Galleria.


It was a cardinal's mansion with a large park surrounding it. The lines were not bad. It houses a great art museum. Bernini's David and his statue of Apollo chasing Daphne is there.there were paintings by Raphael,Rubens,Caravaggio, etc. They only let you stay two hours but we were satiated within 1.5 hr. This was hard to imagine that people lived here though they did not have all the art works there. Is it possible to see too much art?
Now we are preparing for heading home with a wake up call for 5:30 am. Got to go. Judy

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